"Twenty-four hours…almost continuous…" the Doctor shouted over the sobbing.
"I know," Rose shouted back.
The Doctor and Rose were pacing in the nursery, bouncing their three month olds to calm the noise. He had Hannah and she had Sarah. Nothing was working. The babies had only slept for a few minutes at a time, which the Doctor had just discovered came to a grand total of two hours.
"Rose, I just thought of something. They've slept for a combined two hours in the last day."
"More than we have," she commented irritably.
"Do you know what that means?"
She thought about it and glared at him. "You only need two hours a night."
"They apparently can function on the same…"
"I hate your Gallifreyan DNA sometimes."
He smirked. "But it's not my fault that they're loud. That's a Tyler trait."
"Oi!"
Ten minutes later, they were still crying. The Doctor resorted to the rocker and Rose was attempting to sing Sarah to sleep. No matter what, nothing stopped the ruckus. She sent an exhausted look in the Time Lord's direction.
"They are more relentless than Daleks."
"Oh, most definitely. We'd have beaten Daleks hours ago. These two are still going."
"Tell me about it," she laughed tiredly. "We've changed them, fed them, sang to them, rocked them, walked them, bounced them, bathed them, played with them, read to them…what else could we possibly do?"
He got an idea. "Television. Follow me. I know just the thing."
They wandered into the movie room and he put on cartoons. The babies sat up between their parents, yet they still screamed. He changed it to a different cartoon and it didn't make a difference. While he tried various children's shows, Rose had an idea of her own. She stole his sonic screwdriver and put on a documentary about the universe. The kids stopped crying.
"How'd you do that?" the Doctor questioned in amazement.
"They're our kids. You find this sort of thing fascinating, so if they take after you they'll watch it in silence. If they take after me, they'll be asleep in ten minutes. Either way, we win."
Ten minutes into the film, both children were fast asleep. The Doctor grinned. "I am so happy that they're Tyler girls."
"Shush. Don't wake them. Should we put them back in their cots?"
"Would that make them wake up?"
"I don't know."
"Let's not risk it. You stay here. I'll move the monitor from the nursery."
She smiled in relief. "Yes, do that. Then, we get to sleep."
Carefully, he got up and tiptoed out of the room. He didn't see Powell in the hallway and accidentally tripped. He fell with a thud and held his breath. Rose was frozen in place, praying that they wouldn't wake. When they didn't, he silently got up and resumed walking. He made it to the nursery and attempted to remove the monitor. It was attached firmly to the wall.
"Don't do that. Come off," he grumbled as he fiddled with it.
When it didn't budge, he searched for his sonic screwdriver. Rose still had it. Cursing, he pulled with all of his might. It made a cracking sound and he flew backwards into the crib. He stopped moving and listened for any crying. Nothing. Breathing a sigh of relief, he took a step to the door. His foot found one of their talking plush toys. It started to sing loudly.
Rose urgently looked at the twins. They were still out, but the music was still going. The Doctor picked it up and buried it under pillows and blankets. Finally, the song became muffled. He had a nervous expression as he crept back towards the movie room. Luckily, he got there silently. He set the monitor beside the babies on the couch and offered Rose a hand.
Taking it, she stood up and couch creaked and shifted. They stayed still. The kids were out and they happily backed out of the room. Once they got to the kitchen, they leaned against the counter with a relieved sigh.
"Finally," he whispered. "I never thought it'd be quiet again."
"Wait, what if they wake up and crawl away?"
"We'll send in K-9. He'll watch them. K-9," he called softly.
The robot dog came to them. "How may I be of service, Master?"
They both shushed him. "Quietly, very quietly, go watch the twins. Don't let them leave the couch. If they start to go, alert us. You got that? And quietly…" the Doctor murmured.
"Affirmative—"
"Shush!" they both warned.
His volume went down. "Master."
They waited anxiously as the dog rolled into the movie room. There were no screams, so they called that a success. Hand in hand, they went to their room and collapsed onto their bed. They didn't bother with blankets or anything else. Within two minutes, they were both snoring. Within five, the TARDIS started to dramatically shift about.
The Doctor ran to the console room while Rose made sure that the babies were safe. Thankfully, the Doctor had put seat belts on just about everything. She carefully buckled them in, silently pleading that they stayed asleep. When they didn't wake, she darted to the console room and held onto the railing as the Doctor checked things out. He groaned at the results.
"Our power is running out."
Once again, the TARDIS shifted. They looked towards the hallway in unison, gulping worriedly. The TARDIS hadn't disturbed their daughters. At least, they didn't have to worry about that. He handed Rose a hammer and pointed to a section of the console. "Hit that a few times."
She lightly tapped it. "How's that?"
"Harder, Rose."
"The children will wake up."
"They haven't yet. Just hit it."
"Doctor, they're actually asleep for the first time in twenty-four hours. Do you seriously want them to start up again?"
"Do you want the TARDIS to catch on fire and crash into a billion little pieces? I'd take crying over flames and imminent destruction, wouldn't you?"
"Well…"
"Rose!"
"Oh, all right!"
With a scowl, she whacked the console and waited for the screams, but there weren't any. He took the hammer back pointedly and hit a few more things, turning knobs and yanking levers. He pointed to another side of the console and Rose ran to it.
"What do you need me to do?"
"You watch the screen. Tell me if the number is going up or down or staying the same."
He ran around like a madman and she watched the number. "Down. It's going down."
"Of course it is," he grumbled as he listened to the console with his stethoscope. "We have to get power right now."
They came to a rough stop atop the Rift to power back up. After a quick few seconds, they resumed flight with major bumps and the babies still didn't wake.
"That was brilliant! Danger, just the way I like it. And the girls didn't cry!" he laughed softly.
"They must really be out," Rose commented in a murmur. "Let's go check on them."
Upon reaching the movie room, the documentary was still playing and the twins hadn't moved. K-9 was in front of them on the floor, standing guard. They smiled at the sight and embraced one another, glad that they had averted disaster.
"They're so adorable," Rose whispered happily.
"They sure are," the Doctor agreed in a normal voice.
Both of the babies woke up and began to bawl.
Rose sent the Doctor daggers. His mouth hung open in astonishment. "After all that, this is what woke them?"
They each picked up a baby and got to work calming them. The Doctor fiddled with his sonic screwdriver as Sarah sobbed in his arms. He looked to Rose. "Which film is the most boring?"
"Ancient Egypt or the one about the magical world of mathematics."
He looked very offended. "But those are two of my most beloved documentaries."
"Exactly. Just put one on."
They went with the one about math and sat down with the kids in their laps. Gradually, the crying stopped and they fell fast asleep. When they attempted to place the children on the couch and walk away, they woke up and cried harder. He turned up the volume and waited for their girls to sleep. In a few minutes, they were completely out.
"You are incredible, Rose Tyler. I'm glad you thought of this documentary tactic. I couldn't take the crying for a second longer," he whispered with a quiet chuckle. She didn't answer. "Rose?"
Rose was snoring with the girls. He smiled and propped his feet on K-9. The film was one of his top picks, so he simply enjoyed the time he had to himself in a silent room. Just before it ended, he quickly switched the one about Egypt. His Tyler women stayed asleep and he happily absorbed the overdose of boring information.
After a bit, he fell asleep too. That is, until the film ended and the twins woke screaming.